Improvement in coal-hods



E. A. .IEFFERY.

`Coal Hod.

'Patented 2.341864? NITED STATES PATENT Carien.

EDWIN A. JEFFERY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN COAL-HODS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 43,916, dated `ugust 23, 1864.

' To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN A. JEEFERY, of the city and county of New Haven, in the State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Coal-Hods; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full and eXact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, making a yart of this specification, in which- Figure lis a vertical longitudinal section of a coal-hod illustrating my invention. Fig. 2 is a view thereof, looking from tl e top, a portion being broken away, as indicated by the line w x, to expose the interior. Fig. 3is a front elevation.`

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention consists in providing a coalhod with an interior agitating device, whereby the coal may be acted upon in such a manner when the hod is tilted that the coal is kept in motion and caused to pass to the point at which it is discharged until the hod is emptied or the desired quantity deposited within the stove, as will be hereinafter fully eX- plained.

In order that others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains may be enabled to fully understand and use the saine, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the accompanying drawings, A may represent a coal-hod of any suitable construction and having lids a a, the lid a bein'g chiey designed to prevent dust, &c., escaping from the hod into the room while the coal is being supplied to the fire. The lid a may be held down by a catch, a3.

B represents a spiral shaft or screw placed' within the hod and occupying a central position against the front wall thereof, so that its upper terminus will be at the nose A. The screw B, at its respective upper and lower ends, is provided with short shafts b b/the the shaft b being securelyjournaled in the bearing a2. The shaft b may project somewhat beyond the nose A', and may have its bearing in a bow or bracket, C, which is securely riveted to the nose` as shown in Fig. 3. This arrangement obviates the employment at the nose A of any interior appliance which might offer a barrier to the passage of the coal or induce clogging or the choking of the shaft B. The shaft b projects through the bottom ofthe hod and has keyed upon its end acrank-handle, B', whereby the spiral shaft B may be rotated when the hod is tilted in the manner shown in Fig. l. The rotation of the shaft B not only agitatesthc coal to cause it to move by gravity in the direction of the point at which it is discharged, but it also acts to propel or force the coal in the desired direction, although little exertion will be needed to turn the crank-handle B. The flanges A2 at thc bottom of the hod, and upon which the latter rests, may be of such vertical width that the crank may be turned to a position in which it will not project beyond the lower edges of said flanges, when the hod may be placed upon the floor or ground in its normal position without injury to'the crank B.

Although l have described a spiral shaft or screw as the agitating medium, I wish it to be distinctly understood that l do not ilmit myself to a device of this construction, as it is manifest that various forms of agitators may be employed without departingfrom the essential principles of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A coal-hod provided with a spiral agitator, B, or its equivalent, to cause the coal to pass to the lowest part and iiow therefrom with greater facility.

EDWIN A. JEFFERY.

Witnesses CHARLES D. SMITH, JAMns H. GRIDLEY. 

